New $500K stipulation for downtown Fort Myers hotel developers

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The city is demanding $500,000 non-refundable deposit for developers interested in bringing a full service hotel chain to downtown.

Fort Myers has tried unsuccessfully for years to get a hotel with at least 225 rooms to a site near the Harborside Event Center on Monroe Street. Now the city manager has narrowed choices down to several potential developer who will speak with city council members on Tuesday.

But after another developer recently backed out of deal to bring a Sheraton Hotel, the city is introducing a more aggressive approach. Mayor Randy Henderson said the deposit will make development proposals more serious.

“It separates those who want to and those who can. We thought we were heading down a road and that didn’t come to pass and so this is a way to say ‘Hey, if you’re serious we need you to demonstrate in this way that you can move this project forward,'” he said.

Mayor Henderson said he believes the new requirement will attract more hotel developers and city officials said construction could begin within the next year.

“I believe you will see more happen in the next 48 months than you’ve seen in the last decade,” Henderson said. “There’s that much emphasis on the core of the city right now.”